1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to floor mats. Specifically, the invention relates to a floor mat having a substantially transparent or translucent portion in its upper surface which allows light to pass therethrough and therefore makes a decorative image visible and which further includes a light source disposed beneath the decorative image. The light source illuminates the decorative image drawing attention to the same.
2. Background Information
Recessed floor mat systems or stand-alone mats are frequently positioned in the entrances of malls, stores and businesses to ensure that particulate matter and water are removed from peoples' shoes as they enter the premises. The mats are fairly typically manufactured from vinyl or a variety of fibrous materials that scrape and wipe the matter off the shoes. Such mats may be of a flow-through type, where particulate matter and water droplets drop through apertures in the surface and are directed to a collection area of some type. This substantially prevents the matter and droplets from accumulating on the upper surface of the mat and then being tracked into the premises by others at a later time. Alternatively, the mats may by solid mats that include wells which retain the collected particulate matter and water.
In either event, these entryway mats form part of the initial impression that a consumer or client may have of a business. There is therefore an opportunity in the art for the provision of a mat that enhances the initial impression of a business instead of fading into the general background of the company and leaving no lasting impression of the same.